Hepatotoxic Events Associated with Herbal Medicinal Products, Folk Remedies and Food Supplements in Korea

국내에서 보고된 한약 및 민간요법, 건강식품 관련 약인성간손상에 대한 체계적 고찰

Background: The use of herbal preparations as remedies for various medical conditions has continuously increased in Korea Large proportions of Korean patients use herbal medicinal products, folk remedies, and food supplements. However, studies on the safety of herbal products arc conducted on a less than sufficient basis even in the countries like Korea where herbal medicine is being used extensively. Some of the reports on the safety of herbs were done by the doctors of western medicine but lack of knowledge and misclassification led to misunderstandings. Objecitves: This study aims to review the recent evidences on hepatotoxic events associated with the use of herbal medicinal products, folk remedy, and food supplements. In the process, this review will grasp trends in this field of studies and will direct further researches into the right direction. Methods: Systematic literature searches were performed on MedRic and MEDLIS in Korea. Screening and selection of the articles and the extraction of data were performed independently by two of authors. There were no restrictions regarding the published date. In order to avoid bias, the articles written by medical doctors, not by oriental doctors were selected. 43 journals were chosen for the review. Results: Analyzing the number of journals, studies on the drug-induced liver injury were increased after the year 2000. The proportion of herbal and folk remedy associated hepatotoxic injuries in all drug-induced liver injury was $21.0\%-30.0\%$. But criterion for herbal medicine is rather vague and limited objective data hindered objectiveness. Few of single medicinal herbs and combination preparations were associated with hepatotoxic injuries. But because of lack of objectivity, further researches must be conducted to yield more concrete results. Conclusions: yield more concrete results. Incidence figures are largely unknown, and in most cases a causal attribution is not established. The challenge for the future is to systematically research this area, educate all parties involved, and minimize patient risks.